As I understand it they are offering the vast majority settlement agreements. Essentially paying them out for failure to consult under TULRCA (13 weeks weeks pay max award) probably offering all of that Contractual notice ie wrongful dismissal Unfair dismissal compensation max 12 months…so probably offering 3 months for that Stat redundancy they will have viable claims in part or whole for the above if they choose not to accept the offer. The question will be whether they want to take the money and run (from a sinking ship, ahem) or spend 15k and 12 months in a tribunal to be awarded more cash ( or not depending on level of offer / whether they get another job ) Some of them won’t be protected from unfair dismissal under era1996 as there’s an exclusion at the back of the legislation for mariners it’s not that uncommon to do what they’ve done, albeit usually handled a lot better than this. Looks very rushed to me. PR disaster. In terms of the question of whether they can do it, they can more or less do what the hell they like, but there’s a price to pay. The price is high for this. Your friendly supermarkets adopt this tactic regularly.. Someone from their union claimed their solicitors were trying for an injunction. I’ve only ever come across that in whistleblowing cases so can’t see it working although will watch with interest.
Plus, they block ports and put burning barricades across motorways. The French make us look like a bunch of pussycats
Haven’t they Blamed Brexit themselves? Reduction in freight traffic, red tape etc? Ironically enough the RMT union urged their member to vote Brexit…….turkeys voting for Christmas everywhere you look it seems.
For what it is worth (and I am sure P&O wont give a rat's ar*e) I won't be using P&O ferries again. In any case, as I previously posted the latest trip was nothing like previous experiences with a well meaning but very inefficient setup with obvious cost cutting particularly on the food (menu and service) front. As shed131 posted after replacing the Portuguese (who were great) seemed to coincide with falling standards. I remember the underhand tactics of P&O when they forced a start-op rival (Speedferries?) out of business by dirty tricks like blocking the berth. They were only a small concern using two refurbished catamarans for fast crossings (albeit they needed calm seas to use their speed, but we used them a couple of times and found them to be pretty good. The CEO even used to travel on them and talk to teh passengers about their experiences and get feedback. (Can't see any from P&O doing that) In fact we sent feedback to P&O after our last trip outlining our observations and constructive criticisms (Not asking for anything in return) and got 'diddly squat' back with regards to any reply. Back to using the tunnel for us I suppose but will probably have an overnight stop near Calais when coming to UK. We did actually like the flexibility and speed of the tunnel but were put off when the migrant crisis was at its peak as we had some friends who had had some problems (one with minor damage to vehicles) from a small minority of aggressive migrants at the approach to the terminal. The cruise ship fraternity probably won't care about these dismissals, and whilst I would not want to see further redundancies of P&O staff there should be no place for this sort of staff management in this day and age and P&O deserve to go bankrupt but they won't. Annoyingly, the decision maker/CEO individually probably get annual bonuses and pay that exceeds the total salaries of the 800 they have sacked and certainly far more than any savings they make seeing that, even on reduced wages, they still have to pay the replacements. No doubt if the profits rise, the perpetrators of this 'cost cutting' will be well rewarded with bonuses. One of the worst examples of the abuse of unregulated capitalism that we have seen in a long time (and there are plenty of examples of a broken system already). It must be bad if even Downing street are commenting on what is, after all, a commercial business decision that arguably has nothing to do with them (given seafaring law and overseas registration of ships is the overriding factor in this action being 'lawful'.
They bought the business in 2019 prior to Brexit and openly claim to have lost circa £100m each year, despite these losses managed to pay out £270m in dividends in 2020. I’ve no doubt Brexit would have had an impact but them blaming that seems a little convenient.
I must have used P&O ferries in the past but in my experience, the best cross-channel ferries have been Brittany Ferries. We go from Harwich on 5th April, thankfully by Stenna Line. We haven't booked the return yet because we don't know when it's going to be so I expect the prices to go up as a result of P&O...
If they really meant it they would bring in sone sort of legislation to prevent it. However since much of the Worlds shipping is crewed by multinationals it would have little or no effect. You only have to look at size and scale of the Dubai Govt owned parent company. Things like directors of companies declaring bankruptcies leaving small and large suppliers out of pocket (at best) and then simply starting over with a new name should have been outlawed years ago. Instant disqualification from being directors for several years should result. Entrepreneurs) and shareholders 'risk and reward' seems to be 'reward without risk' in many cases nowadays whilst employees and little people are the ones who suffer when it goes wrong.
Only a vague memory from long ago but going from Harwich, we were stuck behind tractors and all sorts of commercial slow moving vehicles on single lane roads travelling to the Port. The usual story I am afraid of UK North South links being half decent but East West links (particularly Norfolk and Suffolk) is like going back in time when it comes to infrastructure.
I always feel elated when disembarking onto the mainland; then dejected when I see the "Carlisle 100 miles" sign.
I agree about Brittany Ferries - often use them from Portsmouth as its only a 45 minute drive for me but they are a lot more expensive than the Dover Calais ones. Overnight to St Malo is the best but also the most expensive. but its a great start to a summer Holiday - cruise out past the IoW drink in hand then when out past there grab a nice meal and hit the sack - if you can wake up in time you can get a look at the channel islands on the way in then Breakfast in St Malo - beats a drive to Gatwick and a flight all ends up.
We usually did Portsmouth to Caen/Cherbourg or Plymouth to Roscoff but whichever it was always pleasant. In 2010 me and a mate went Portsmouth-Cherbourg with our bikes and cycled to St Malo and back from there. It took us 5 days, staying in Gites d'Etape, youth hostals and B&Bs it was brilliant.
Again I'm not saying Brexit hasn't had a impact on this particular situation I was just referring to our redundancy laws which have been terrible across my whole working life under decades in office by both Labour and the Tories.
I would imagine that It’s pretty heavily unionised and if so Thompsons will pick up the work with no cost to the individuals (obvs different for non unionised). I’d be taking a cheeky punt if I were them though it would be a gamble as there may be no business in 12 months time
Another faux govt outrage from Grant Shapps doesn’t fool me, only condemning the way the the staff were notified of their job losses, nothing about the consequences etc.